January 20, 2008

Food for a cold day

We had dueling soups on the stove today. Here is Gary's deer burger soup . Brown some ground venison, add onions, then add a can of tomatoes, a carrot or 2, celery, salt and pepper, water, beef bouillon, and egg noodles.
Here's my mushroom barley soup. I brown about a cup of raw barley in olive oil to toast them, then boil the barley in water with some veggie bouillon. Sautee sliced portabellos with onions, garlic, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and a touch of butter (mushrooms are better in butter imo!). Add them to the barley, add a carrot or 2, celery. I also had some sour cream that had been mixed with horseradish in the fridge (left over from crabcakes earlier this week) so I added that too!
Making the rounds on the web lately is a recipe for a quick beer bread. Here's the link. It's an easy recipe! I had some frozen chives from last year's garden in the fridge, so I added a handful of them plus some cheddar cheese. The beer is Saranac Pale Ale. Next time I make this bread I will knead it rather than mix and plop it in the pan.
And for dessert - eggnog bundt cake made with eggnog left over from the holidays. I am never patient when it comes to removing a bundt cake from its pan. I am always so eager to see how it looks, I remove it before it cools completely and end up leaving parts of the cake in the pan. That's one way to sneak a taste early!

Posted by roosterh at 5:41 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2007

Bread Recipe

I just might be infatuated with New Hope Mills products. Remember how excited I was about my summer road trip? Last month I visited their retail outlet in Auburn. Not quite as much character as their old mill site, but full of products, good prices and other yummy treats.

Not only do they have good products, but the products are produced locally. While it is true that you can grow your own grains and make your own flour, at least according to "Growing Great Grains" by Gene Logsdon (great book), the effort put out is hardly worth the product on such a small scale IMO.

That's where local producers come into play. Your dollar stays here, and the oil/gas used to move your food is kept to a minimum. Eating locally is the new trend and it may play a more important role in our economy than the organic market. Tompkins County has a website devoted to the topic.

But back to New Hope Mills. If you have a chance, visit their mill in the summer months. You will find their flours at the mill and at their outlet in Auburn much cheaper than what you can find in the supermarket, although even in the grocery stores their prices are quite reasonable.

Here is my favorite recipe for bread, using their flour. I use it for loaves, french bread loaves, even pizza crust! It never fails.

• 1 c. + 2 T. lukewarm water
  
• 1 t. lemon juice, fresh or bottled
  
• 1 1/2 T. olive oil
  
• 1 1/2 T. sugar
  
• 1 t. salt
  
• 3C white flour
  
• *1/2C wheat flour
  
• 2 t. yeast
  

*if you want to use all white flour, throw 1t of wheat gluten in the mix.

I use the bread machine to do all my kneading and then I set the dough in a greased metal bowl, cover it with a towel and set it by the woodstove to rise for a while. The rising time can depend on how warm the stove is. Then I transfer the dough to whatever pan I am using (my favor is the W-shaped pan for French bread) and bake 350 for 30 minutes-ish. Your mileage may vary.

Yum! And I never did mention their pancake mixes, or biscuit mixes, or other bread mixes.

Posted by roosterh at 7:00 PM | Comments (0)